Bed Tent

ABSTRACT

A bed tent includes an enclosure defined by a top spanning two side walls. The side walls are characterized by a deformable, collapsible material, each bearing a wire ring defining its periphery. The wire rings have spring-like characteristics, and may be hyper-extended, or folded in order to create tightly coiled rings of smaller circumference. In this manner, the tightly coiled rings may be unfolded to form the side walls, which are kept separated by cross members at the top of the enclosure. The enclosure is sized to fit a standard bed frame, and a mattress and bed linens may be installed in the enclosure when assembled.

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisionalapplication No. 61/598,292, filed on Feb. 13, 2012.

BACKGROUND

Personal enclosures for covering a mattress or bed are known in the art.U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,584 to Danaher, U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,434 to Arnold,and U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,598 to Griesenbeck, among others, discloseapparatus for covering a bed or mattress with a tent structure forprivacy or security. These apparatus and others known in the art haveseveral drawbacks. First, they typically use numerous parts, which maybe difficult to put together, and may become lost. They are alsodifficult to assemble and disassemble, which serves as a disincentive tousing them.

There is therefore a need for a bed tent having a single, easilycollapsible enclosure and a minimum number of individual parts, andwhich may be easily assembled and disassembled by a user with minimaleffort. These and other objects addressed by the present invention willbe more fully discussed in the following Summary, Description andClaims.

SUMMARY

A portable and collapsible bed tent includes an enclosure having twoopposing side walls and a top between them designed to install on aconventionally-sized bed and contain a mattress. The side walls haveperipheral edges, and each peripheral edge is equipped with a flexibleand deformable ring, which may be made of wire. The rings thereforedefine the periphery of a side wall. Because the rings are resilientlydeformable, after removing a mattress the enclosure may be collapsed bymoving the rings together and in tandem folding opposite peripheraledges together. In this manner the periphery of the rings issubstantially reduced into a collapsed configuration.

The bed tent may also be characterized as covering the space above amattress by providing a pair of spaced-apart side walls, each having aperiphery, and a top between the side walls. Spring-like curved ringsare integrated into the periphery of each side wall, and the enclosure,in an expanded configuration is sized to house the mattress. By removingthe mattress the enclosure is collapsible, the rings characterized inthat by hyper-extending the curvature of a ring, smaller multiplehelices of lesser circumference are formed for storing the bed tent whennot in use. Since the rings are coupled to the peripheral edges of theenclosure, as the rings form a smaller, tightly coiled ring, theenclosure is collapsed into a flat disk with a circumferencesubstantially smaller than the periphery of the side walls.

When not folded, the rings support the side walls, which are connectedat the top of the enclosure. To preserve an unfolded enclosure in anopen position over a mattress, one or more cross members spanning thetop separate the rings. The cross members may also be deformable, butpreferably are resilient enough to retain a substantially straight shapefor spanning the top. The cross members may also comprise connectors attheir extreme ends for engaging the rings or other material at thejunction of the side walls and the top.

At a minimum, the enclosure may have only a top, and two sides. Such aconfiguration results in a canopy-like enclosure with open sides.Alternatively, the enclosure may include opposing end walls between theside walls, and may include a bottom on which a mattress rests, therebyforming a complete enclosure. The complete enclosure is more akin to atent with walls on all sides. Since the side walls are adapted forplacement on the sides of a bed, rather than at the head or foot,ingress and egress to and from the enclosure are accomplished throughthe side walls. To facilitate such ingress and egress, at least one ofthe sides preferably has a closable opening. Besides the closableopenings, the side walls may also comprise one or more windows forviewing outside the enclosure.

To promote ease of use and an aesthetic appearance, the rings may beencased in the enclosure by hems. Also, it is anticipated that a user,when employing the bed tent, will fold a conventional mattress andinsert it into the bed tent through one of the closeable openings. Inthis manner, the mattress preferably covers the entire bottom of the bedtent. Due to the commonality of conventionally sized mattresses, theenclosure, including the bottom, should be sized to accommodate twin,double, full, queen, and king size mattresses.

In order to use the bed tent, a user obtains a collapsed tent, whichincludes the enclosure collapsed around two tightly coiled metal rings.With gentle unfolding pressure, the wire rings will unfold and expand tocreate the sidewalls of the enclosure. Once the side walls areconfigured, a user may separate them and preserve them in a separatedstate by installing cross members spanning the top of the enclosure. Inorder to access the inside of the enclosure, it may be necessary to openan opening in one of the side walls.

The bed tent, may be placed in a desired location, including atop a bedframe, and a mattress, including pillows, bed linens, etc. installed inthe bed tent. The assembled bed tent can be used as long as desired. Inorder to disassemble the bed tent, a user simply removes the mattressand any pillows or bed clothes, removes the cross members, and folds upthe side walls by folding or hyper-extending the wire rings overthemselves. At a certain point, the wire rings may be biased to atightly coiled state, and the smaller, collapsed bed tent may then bestored as desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bed tent assembled and installed on abed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bed tent illustrating the properplacement of the tent on a mattress.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bed tent, illustrating folding andunfolding the tent.

FIG. 4 is a cross section view of the bed tent along line 4-4 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the bed tent pole.

DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a bed tent enclosure 10 comprises side walls 18placed atop a bed frame 12. The bed frame 12 may be of any standard bedsize, including a single, twin, full, queen or king. The side walls 18comprises a covered metal wire 24, preferably covered by the side walls18, which may be made of a durable material suitable for this purpose.The side walls 18 is mechanically coupled to a door flap 22 by afastener, such as a zipper, hook and loop fastener, snaps or the like.The enclosure 10 has two positions, open and closed, as shown in FIG. 3and discussed below. When open, the sidewalls 18 are held upright by aplurality of supports 26 placed across the top of the enclosure 10. Inone preferred embodiment, the supports 26 are plastic.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the metal wire 24 may be made of steel, andmachined into a spring wire, rectangular in cross-section. In oneembodiment, the rectangle may be 2 mm by 7 mm. In the metal wire 24,there is preferably once piece of steel spring wire, connected with acommercially available metal connector. The enclosure 10 comprises twosuch metal wires 24. A first wire encircles the side of the tent havingthe door flap 22. A second wire encircles a second door flap 22 on theopposite side of the enclosure 10. Importantly, the metal wire 24 doesnot traverse the top of the tent, which is stabilized by supports 26spanning the top of the enclosure 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, a side view of the enclosure 10 is shown with thedoor flaps 22 raised. When the enclosure 10 is opened, the side walls 18comprise metal wires 24 covered by the side walls 18, and held in placeon the bed frame 12 by the supports 26 (not shown). With the door flaps22 raised, the bed mattress 16 is shown inside the enclosure 10 on topof the bed frame 12, but not coupled together in any way. Ideally, thedoor flaps 22 are sufficiently high to remain in place over themattress, while also able to allow users to enter and exit the enclosure10 with ease.

Referring to FIG. 3, the enclosure 10 is shown folded into a smallcylinder in the closed position. Once of the novel features of theenclosure 10 is that it can be easily disassembled, folded, andtransported. To accomplish disassembly a user removes the plasticsupports 26 (not shown) and the bed mattress, if necessary. The sidewalls 18 are then folded by bringing the corners together, such that themetal wire 24 rolls into a small coil, completely collapsing theenclosure 10. Assembling the bed tent 10 is just as easy, since thecompressed metal wire 24, when coiled, can be lightly shaken and therebycaused to expand. Once expanded, the door flap 22 may be opened toinstall the supports 26.

Referring to FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view of the enclosure 10 isshown. As discussed earlier, the metal wire 24 encircles the left andright sides of the side walls 18, but does not encircle the top orbottom. Rather, the top and bottom are held in position by a pluralityof supports 26 spanning the enclosure 10, to ensure it maintains itsshape.

Referring to FIG. 5, the support 26, which is preferably a plastic orfiber glass support 26, has a length equal to the width of the bed frame12 (not shown). Each support 26 comprises a long thin shaft ofdimensions sufficient to support the weight of the enclosure 10. Theshaft is capped at each end by a thick-portioned end, which is machinedinto a tip having a smooth flat surface.

One of ordinary skill in this art will readily recognize that thepreceding description has been set forth in terms of description ratherthan limitation. While the bed tent disclosed has been shown having agenerally rectangular shape, with ovoid openings, the bed tent may beformed in any desired shape. Additionally, the bed tent may have an openbase for access to existing sheets, blankets or other linens on a bedsupporting the tent. Still other modifications and substitutions can bemade without departing from the spirit and broad scope of thisinvention. It is the claims which follow that define the invention,rather than the examples of various embodiments described above.

1. A bed tent to enclose a conventional mattress for privacy comprising: an enclosure having two opposing side walls each with a peripheral edge; the opposing side walls each having a deformable ring at the peripheral edge; the enclosure having a bottom to encapsulate the mattress; and wherein the rings are resiliently deformable, such that upon removing the mattress the enclosure is collapsible by moving the rings together and in tandem folding the peripheral edges together.
 2. The bed tent of claim 1 further comprising a cross member spanning and separating the rings.
 3. The bed tent of claim 2 wherein the cross member has extreme ends adapted to engage the rings.
 4. The bed tent of claim 2 further comprising a plurality of cross members.
 5. The bed tent of claim 1 wherein the bed tent includes opposing end walls between the side walls to form a complete enclosure above the mattress.
 6. (canceled)
 7. The bed tent of claim 1 further comprising a closable opening in one of the side walls.
 8. The bed tent of claim 1 wherein the rings are encased in the side walls by hems.
 9. The bed tent of claim 1 wherein the enclosure is sized for conventional mattresses including twin, double, full, queen and king sizes.
 10. The bed tent of claim 1 further comprising a window for viewing outside the enclosure.
 11. A bed tent for covering the space above a mattress comprising: a pair of spaced-apart side walls, a bottom and a top between the side walls; springy curved rings integrated into each side wall; the bed tent in an expanded configuration sized to house the mattress; whereupon removing the mattress the bed tent is collapsible; and the springy rings characterized such that by hyper-extending the curvature of a ring, smaller multiple helices of lesser circumference are formed, for storing the bed tent when not in use.
 12. The bed tent of claim 11 further comprising a cross member spanning between the side walls.
 13. The bed tent of claim 12 wherein the cross member has extreme ends adapted to engage the rings.
 14. The bed tent of claim 12 further comprising a plurality of cross members.
 15. The bed tent of claim 11 wherein the bed tent includes opposing end walls between the side walls to form a complete enclosure above the mattress.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The bed tent of claim 11 further comprising a closable opening in a side wall.
 18. The bed tent of claim 11 wherein the rings are encased in the side walls by hems.
 19. The bed tent of claim 11 wherein the bed tent is sized for conventional mattresses, including twin, double, full, queen and king sizes.
 20. The bed tent of claim 11 further comprising a window for viewing outside the bed tent. 